One of the most extraordinary discoveries of the 20th century in studies of Beethoven’s music has been occurrence of an ancient theme and chord progressions known as ‘La Folia’ which the composer uses at least 3 times in his known compositions, each time hidden within his music.
a) Beethoven 5th Symphony, Second Movement, Bars 167 to 176
b) Beethoven Sonata No.3 for Cello and Piano, Op.69 , Second Movement (bars 1-8)
c) Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5, Op.73, First Movement (bars 38-45)
Use of ‘La Folia’ in an extrovert and wholly advertised way can be traced back to the 15th century and even earlier. There are many examples. It was really made famous for the first time by Lully in his theoretical writings. During the 18th century we have such works such as –
1. Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel (1714-1788)
12 Variationen auf die Folie d'Espagne in d mineur Wq118/9 H263 (1778): 12 variations
2. Bedard, Jean-Baptiste (1765-1818)
‘Folies d'Espagne’ (Theme and 11 variations)
3. Boccherini, Luigi (1743-1805)
Menuet from quintet Opus 40, number 1 in A (two violins, viola, two celli), Gerard 340 (c. 1785).
4. Cramer, Johann Baptist (1771-1858)
Follia di Spagna (1811) as part of Divertimento X for fortepiano
Theme and 4 variations (and starting the first four bars of the 5th variation). First published 1811 by W. Mitchell, London England.
5. Désargus, Xavier (c.1768-1832)
Études pour harp, Opus 6: Vingt quatre etudes pour la harpe sur les Folies d' Espagne
6 Falconieri Andrea (c.1585-1656) Folia and 10 Variations (1650)
7. Antonio Salieri in 1790/1 wrote 'Folia and 12 Variations for Orchestra'
Far rarer is for ‘La Folia’ to be hidden within music unannounced. It can be found also (hidden) in a secular cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach ‘Unser trefflicher lieber Kammerherr' (1742) from the ‘Bauernkantate’ (BWV 212).
Its discovery within Beethoven's 5th Symphony (where it's quoted by Beethoven towards the end of the slow movement) had apparently escaped expert appreciation until 1994 when it was first pointed out by a music student in the UK (Lucy Hayward-Warburton) to the astonishment of her music tutor. !
Those interested in the subject can visit a remarkable website dealing with this very curious area of research at http://www.folias.nl/html5f.html
Robert
[This message has been edited by robert newman (edited 02-21-2006).]
Comment